Smart temperature sensors

Working with Nowi and T-Mobile, BAM has installed smart temperature sensors in the road network for the municipality of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Port Authority and, commissioned by ProRail, also on the Delft Zuid railway platform. The smart ‘plug-and-forget’ sensors measure the temperature of the road surface. This means that we know when salt needs to be spread. The sensors recharge themselves using unused energy from mobile and 4G networks.

A crucial aspect of these sensors is T-Mobile’s new Narrowband IoT (Internet of Things) network, which has national coverage. The sensors use this to exchange data without using much energy at all, and from the most inaccessible locations, such as a road surface. This groundbreaking technology resulted from a unique collaboration between BAM, T-Mobile and sensor developer Nowi. This resulted in a technology that uses data and data analysis to trigger maintenance.